Emma Stone

Emma Stone never took herself too seriously, which might explain her unusual choices in roles: a sullen bass player, a nerdy sorority girl, a zombie killer. But it was exactly those bold choices that gave Stone an edge over so many Hollywood ingénues who were typecast as the pretty, non-threatening love interest. Stone first gained attention as Jonah Hill's teen crush in the comedy "Superbad" (2007), which also starred resident geek-next-door Michael Cera. The part showcased the actress' improv skills, honed over many years of performing on stage. After playing second fiddle to more seasoned actresses like Anna Faris in "The House Bunny" and Jennifer Garner in "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" (2009), Stone scored the lead role in the comedy "Easy A" (2010), as a high school student who develops a "whorish" reputation after pretending to have slept around. Comedy was clearly Stone's forte, but her impressive turn as a fearless writer in the film version of the best-selling novel "The Help" (2011) gained her much critical acclaim, and a place as one of her generation's most versatile actresses.

Emily Jean Stone was born on Nov. 6, 1988 in Scottsdale, AZ. At age 11, she joined a local children's theater where she performed in numerous plays and was part of an improv troop - an experience that sparked Stone's interest in becoming a comedic actress. When she was 14, the then-budding comic ingeniously made a PowerPoint presentation titled "Project Hollywood 2004" set to the Madonna song "Hollywood" (2003) to convince her parents to allow her to move to Los Angeles. The unusual tactic worked and a year later, Stone could officially called L.A. home - just in time for pilot season. She made her TV debut on the VH1 reality show the "The New Partridge Family" (2005), a modern update of the classic sitcom about a family band. Stone won the role of Laura; unfortunately, the pilot was never picked up. She guest starred on several TV shows, including the crime thriller "Medium" (NBC, 2005-09), Disney Channel's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" (2005-07), and the family comedy "Malcolm in the Middle" (Fox, 2000-06), starring Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, and Bryan Cranston. After a few years playing minor roles on television, Stone set her sights on the big screen and fell in love with the perfect script that she felt could launch her movie career. "Superbad," starred Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as two outcasts desperate to lose their virginity before heading off to college. Stone won the part of Hill's dream girl crush and became an overnight success in the monster comedic smash.

Stone followed up "Superbad" with a lead role in the film, "The Rocker" (2008), playing a sardonic bass player in a band that is formed by its washed-up front man (Rainn Wilson). Stone then traded in her guitar for a sorority pledge pin in the frothy comedy, "The House Bunny" (2008), co-starring Anna Faris as Shelley Darlingson, a former Playboy playmate who becomes the house mother of a dying sorority composed of socially inept girls. Stone played Natalie, the sorority's geeky president who, after undergoing a fashion and attitude makeover, realizes that there is more to life than just her studies. Stone also co-starred in "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" opposite Jennifer Garner and Matthew McConaughey, as a ghost who guides McConaughey's character through his romantic history. She also flexed her muscles in the unlikely hit film "Zombieland" (2009), where she shot the undead while riding on an amusement park ride.

In 2010, Stone finally landed her own starring vehicle with the teen comedy "Easy A," a contemporary high school-set retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel, The Scarlett Letter. She played a student whose life is beginning to parallel Hawthorne's heroine Hester Prynn after she lied about having sex. The role showcased Stone at her most beguiling as she essayed the ease with which she fully relished her newfound bad-girl reputation, and which led to a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. In 2011, she starred in the highly anticipated film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's New York Times best-selling novel, "The Help," opposite Bryce Dallas Howard and Viola Davis. Stone played a writer who told the stories of the black women who worked as maids and nannies in Mississippi in the early 1960s, and in the process, alienated herself from the socialites she grew up with as well as her own wealthy family.